The Oklahoma City Thunder are now actively listening to trade offers for franchise point guard Russell Westbrook, but he is not currently on the New York Knicks’ radar, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post.
The Knicks don’t have the contract flexibility to make a deal for Westbrook (four years, $170 million) until Dec. 15, when their six of their free-agent acquisitions are eligible to be dealt.
New York has been looking for a defining point guard for a few decades now, and Westbrook could fit the bill of an electric, do-it-all floor general who could bring Madison Square Garden to its feet.
Yet to do so, they would have to abandon the plan they put in place to sign a core of Julius Randle, Bobby Portis, Wayne Ellington, Reggie Bullock, Elfrid Payton and others who inked on short-term deals. There's a possibility the summer isn't enough time to get a deal done for Westbrook, considering that most teams already made their big signings and now have their money frozen into cap space for the next six months, like the Knicks, unable to swing big for the star.
New York has enough flexibility to swing for the fences once again in 2020, with many of the contracts becoming a one-and-one at the end of the 2019-20 campaign.
So far, the Houston Rockets, Miami Heat and Detroit Pistons have been the three most interested parties, but they will all have to exercise some creativity to make the salaries match in a deal of such magnitude.
Follow Us
Subscribe